The Last Mr. Dongguo

Snapped……

The teacup slipped from Liu Ming's hand, fell to the ground, and shattered with a crisp sound.

Liu Ming was startled and only then came to his senses, but his eyes never left his daughter's portrait.

His temples are gray, and wrinkles run deep. Time has left too many marks on Liu Ming's face.

The night five years ago was his permanent nightmare.

Under the moonlight, a woman walked for more than an hour in the darkness and finally arrived at a manor. A thick fog shrouded the area, and the streetlights at the entrance emitted a dim yellow light, making it seem eerie and terrifying.

The woman adjusted her breathing, switched the suitcase from her right hand to her left, and rang the manor's doorbell.

"Who is it?"

The multi-angle high-definition surveillance camera on the gate tilted its head and aimed at the woman.

The woman carried a leather suitcase; she was pretty, with snow-white skin, and clear, bright eyes beneath willow-leaf eyebrows. Her white, fitted trousers accentuated her slender figure. Through signal transmission, those in the monitoring room could clearly see the woman's makeup.

"Liu Siyu," the woman said, pointing the ring on her right pinky finger at the surveillance camera.

"Click."

The gate opened with a bang, and Liu Siyu stepped into the mysterious manor.

Stepping through the main gate and across the front hall, one enters a long corridor. Golden pillars on either side are inlaid with colorful gemstones, while the ceiling paintings depict the four seasons, with lifelike depictions of flowers, birds, fish, and insects, bringing nature to life. The carpet underfoot complements the painted scenes, providing different visual, tactile, olfactory, and auditory experiences. This perfect integration of the five senses allows those walking along the corridor to feel completely close to nature, experiencing the idyllic scene of "I see the green hills so charming, and I suppose the green hills see me the same way."

However, at this moment, Liu Siyu had no intention of appreciating anything. In her heart, she was nervous, worried, at a loss, and slightly helpless, but there was no hesitation in her eyes.

The sound of the door closing brought Liu Siyu back to her senses. Only then did she realize that she had been led into a dimly lit room. The room was simply furnished, with no artistic decorations whatsoever, just a simple wooden sofa, a stark contrast to the Four Seasons Corridor.

"Please sit down."

The sound reached Liu Siyu's ears, and a blurry black shadow came into her view.

Facing the tall, dark figure, Liu Siyu felt an unusual pressure. The darkness made it hard for her to breathe.

Meow!

A meow made the atmosphere even more eerie. In the dimly lit room, a cat nimbly leaped onto the shadowy figure's shoulder, its pale yellow eyes gleaming with a ghostly, captivating light.

"Tell me, what's your purpose in coming here? Did you kill the boss?"

Suddenly, a question came from behind Liu Siyu, and then she felt someone press a gun against her lower back.

Life and death are separated by a single moment, leaving no time for hesitation.

Liu Siyu instinctively did a split, turned around, gripped the opponent's holster with her right hand, her index finger on the trigger, and used her left hand as a fulcrum to deliver a side kick, knocking the opponent down. The whole movement was executed in one fluid motion. At this moment, the gun was already in Liu Siyu's hand.

"Impressive skills."

"Is this how you treat your guests? How can you do business like this?" Liu Siyu removed the magazine and threw the pistol in front of her.

The dark figure paced back and forth in front of the table, the "clack-clack" of its heels echoing loudly in the empty room.

"Doing business? Hmph, what kind of business do you think we're in?"

"Take a look at this." Undeterred by the pressure, Liu Siyu walked to the table, opened the leather suitcase in her hand, and turned to the shadowy figure. "The boss told me before he died to bring this to you."

The shadowy figure didn't look down to examine the goods; he closed the suitcase and pushed it aside.

"You, as a police officer, should know best how the boss died, right?"

Oops!

The toneless question struck Liu Siyu like a bolt from the blue, making her head spin, and the overwhelming aura plunged her into despair.

"However, little girl, I admire your courage. What I lack are people with courage."

The shadowy figure circled around the table, and its will-o'-the-wisps, like cat eyes, drifted to Liu Siyu's face.

Whether it was due to mental tension or the cat's eye truly possessing some mysterious power, Liu Siyu was now completely powerless. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, her vision went black, and she collapsed into the arms of the shadowy figure.

"Big brother, what should we do?"

"Notify Feng Zi that he must act convincingly."

"I understand. But..." The person beside him hesitated, not daring to look directly into the cat's eyes.

"Just what?"

"Just now, the brothers came to report that the 'Spring Outing' painting is missing."

"Hmm? It seems the police had planned this all along; they came specifically for the 'Spring Outing' painting."

"So what do we do?"

"We must send out all our men to find 'Spring Outing'."

My thoughts returned to normal.

Liu Ming looked at the painting "Spring Outing" on the table. Since that night, he hadn't seen his daughter again. Three days later, he received the devastating news of her death via phone call. From that moment on, Liu Ming vowed to find the truth, and the painting on the table held the key. For five years, Liu Ming visited many renowned painters, but still couldn't discern anything. Wu Lian's impulsive act gave him hope.

He took out nine invitations from the city museum from the drawer and wrote down the names of nine people.

The Municipal People's Hospital, under the surveillance camera.

A man yawning, his eyes unfocused, struggled to keep his eyelids closed, but to no avail. His head swayed back and forth on his neck, each sudden droop waking him. Finally, he realized the consequences. He stretched, looked up, and waved at the security camera in the corner, as if to explain, "I wasn't sleeping."

He picked up his teacup and shook it; the hot water was long gone. "I'll make myself a cup of tea," he thought, "maybe it'll help me clear my head." As he did so, he opened a drawer and began searching for tea leaves, muttering under his breath, "It's just looking at a corpse, is it really necessary to go to all this trouble? It's so late at night, why not have a few more people with you?"

The thought of a corpse made him abruptly stop rummaging through the drawers, and he suddenly looked up and scanned his surroundings. Although the lights were on, a chill and terror shot straight from the soles of his feet to his brain. He shivered, trying to control his emotions, and then looked down to rummage through the drawers again. With great difficulty, he found a packet of tea with illegible packaging, tore it open with a sense of accomplishment, and poured it into his teacup.

"Beep beep beep," the teapot on the power outlet was already emitting white smoke, and with a "snap," it automatically shut off. He reached out and picked up the teapot, pouring hot water into the moldy teacup.

Snapped!

The sudden power outage froze him instantly. Scalding hot water flowed down the table and onto his legs, the heat stimulating his sluggish brain. He then quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie from his waist.

"What happened? Why did the power suddenly go out?"

There was no response on the other end of the walkie-talkie, only a series of crackling static.

Inside the morgue, rows of refrigerated morgue cabinets stand solemnly and neatly, representing the value of life in its final moments. No more conflict, no more confusion; everything returns to its origin.

One of the middle shelves of a row of pristine white refrigerated display cases was pulled open halfway, as if the hand of God had disrupted the existing balance, causing chaos in the calm and solemn scene.

"How is it?" Cheng Luan entered the scene wearing gloves, and Bai Xin was already questioning the guard on night duty.

The guard, Old Chen, was constantly wiping away sweat, which had soaked the tissue in his hand. Seeing Cheng Luan walk in, he quickly nodded in greeting.

"Captain Cheng, according to Lao Chen, the entire building suddenly lost power at the time of the incident, so the surveillance equipment didn't capture any useful footage. The power outage lasted about fifteen minutes, which was enough time to move the body out of the building." Bai Xin finished speaking, turned to see Lao Chen out, then returned and saw Cheng Luan squatting on the ground, picking up the body's number tag. "Captain Cheng, who did you say stole the body? What did they want the body for?"

"How long has this person been dead? How did they die?"

"He died of illness a day ago. Also," Bai Xin handed Cheng Luan a piece of red paper, "this was found during the search of the scene just now."

Cheng Luan unfolded the red paper; it was a museum invitation with his name on it.